June 23, 2015: I’ve been on LinkedIn as long as I’ve been writing digital content professionally. Publishing on LinkedIn Pulse seemed like a natural fit. I found success with my third LinkedIn Pulse post, entitled “New Grads: Do What You Love To Love What You Do.”
This post has received at least 1450 page views, 104 likes and 8 comments.
Why Publish on LinkedIn Pulse?
Publishing on LinkedIn Pulse seemed like a valuable choice for my personal brand for many of the same reasons I’d want to guest post on a prestigious blog:
- LinkedIn Pulse provides a platform for professionalism and notoriety.
- It enables me to stay connected to others in my field and in the demographic(s) I want to reach.
- Pulse helps me expand and establish myself as an authority in the field of digital technology while still retaining the interest of my connections in publishing and the arts.
- When blogging on an appropriate topic, I can slip in links to both my personal and professional brands.
- Pulse is professional and a blog and it’s social; I’m not getting that sort of connection on any other network.
- I can find new connections and see who is interested in my content and profile.
Before You Begin…
Analyze Your Profile
Before you think about what to write about on LinkedIn Pulse, consider your topics of expertise. Then, take a look at your profile and your connections. Who are you connected to? Who do you want to reach?
My profile analysis reveals that my profile is viewed by people in tech, publishing, and self-identified geeks. That’s very consistent with my personal and professional brand. I’m getting the most views from people local to me, too.
Examine LinkedIn Featured Tags and Categories
LinkedIn has many categories that hit the sweet spot: they are interesting to me, I can speak with some amount of authority in those areas, and my connections are also interested in them. This will differ according to your industry, but I like to aim for inclusion in categories like social media, professional women, technology, entertainment, and best advice.
LinkedIn also utilizes hashtags in Pulse posts for special events. I came across #IfIWere22 in a post I was reading; it’s for advice you’d give your 22 year old self and was aptly timed to assist recent college graduates active on the professional network. As with most networks, editorial initiatives and seasonal content have the potential to do well.
Choose your title carefully: if it’s tweeted, will it fit into a tweet? If you’re not sure about your title, consider using CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer to help.
Analysis of a Successful Post:
Here’s a quick look at how my post did using the metrics LinkedIn Provides:
Most of the post’s success occurred over two days (weekdays).
LinkedIn Pulse shows me that my post is reaching people in my industry (I work in marketing at a tech company), people in my area (I’m located near Philadelphia), and that my post was primarily discovered via Pulse itself.
Pulse also offers a dashboard-style glimpse at my analytics.
What did I do to succeed?
- Published and promoted the post starting Monday morning
- Used a promoted LinkedIn tag (#IfIWere22)
- Published a timely topic: advice for recent grads around graduation time
- Addressed audience in title (“New Grads:”)
- Wrote long-form content: 1757 words
- Exercised an extremely honest and genuine tone; this is necessary to connect with an audience in general and millennials specifically
- Wrote in an appropriate tone and voice
- Asked my friends, family, coworkers to share the post on social
- Used a ‘power word’ (love) in my headline
- Kept paragraphs short and considered the mobile reader
- Broke the long content into readable sections
What Could I Have Done Better?
- Provided a short video intro
- Selected a better header image
- Re-shared on Twitter a few more times
- Responded to comments faster
Have you had success on LinkedIn Pulse? What did you do to make it happen? We welcome comments and additional tips.
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